About Camelback Pain
When you usually visit the doctor, do you spend more time in the waiting room than in your actual appointment? At Camelback Pain, we have a different approach. We take the time to get to know our patients and their families and believe that by building strong relationships, we can provide the best care.
Dr. Norvan Vartevan
Founder and Anesthesiologist
Hi! I’m Dr. Vartevan but you can call me Dr. V. I grew up in a typical suburb in Dallas, Texas. While it was an family friendly community lauded for an exemplary school system; my community held a dirty secret. We had a big teenage heroin epidemic.In 1999 alone, there were over 20 heroin overdoses resulting in death in the senior graduating class at my high school. There were dozens of more arrests and general disruption and devastation of promising lives. These were people I knew.
I was impressionable and determined. I knew I wanted to practice medicine, and I knew I wanted to treat patients without highly addictive opiates. In my view, the healthcare system was equally complicit in the opioid crisis. I chose to undertake a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) program to better incorporate a holistic approach in my medical practice.
I was no stranger to pain. As a lifelong athlete, I was a nationally ranked tennis player sponsored by Dunlap and Prince. As a traditional Texan, I traded off the tennis court for the football field and basketball court as the seasons changed. In my undergraduate studies I joined the University of Oklahoma (OU) lacrosse team. Now, I am avid golfer and a father of two amazing children.
I have sustained innumerable injuries and know how easy it would be to treat back or neck pain with pills.
The cost of convenience can be a lifelong inconvenience - a battle with addiction.
Let’s not take the easy way out. I am committed to developing a holistic narcotic free pain management approach for you.
Dr. Vitaliy Zhivotenko
Dr. Vitaliy Zhivotenko, DO earned his medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed a Medical Internship and Neurology Residency at Penn State Medical Center. During residency, he excelled in a wide variety of neurological disorders, including but not limited to headaches, movement disorders, neurorehabilitation, cognitive and behavioral neurology, neuromuscular disease, epilepsy, stroke and vascular neurology, and multiple sclerosis. At graduation, he was awarded “Outstanding Performance in Outpatient Neurology.”
With pain being an integral part of neurology, in combination with his interest in treating painful conditions, Dr. Zhivotenko went on to complete an ACGME-accredited, multidisciplinary, comprehensive fellowship in Pain Management at Penn State Medical Center. Upon completion of the fellowship, he was chosen as the top pain fellow of the year.
Dr. Zhivotenko is Dual Board Certified in Neurology and Pain Management by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He continues to stay up to date with advances in his field by maintaining current membership and attending meetings with multiple societies.
When not seeing patients, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, hiking, biking, rollerblading, and traveling around the world.
